Net incomes are up for western dairy herds

Submitted by admin on Mon, 01/02/2012 - 08:00

Hoard's Dairyman:

Net incomes are up for western dairy herds

Date:

Mon, 01/02/2012

Feed costs range from $8 to $10 per hundredweight.

Net farm incomes are rising in the West, according to reports assembled by Frazer, LLP. However, profits must continue for the foreseeable future in order to recover from the substantial losses that took place during 2008 and 2009.

The accounting firm conducts business in seven states. Enough data exists that they can break California into three regions. Two of those three regions reported both the low and high returns per hundredweight (cwt). Southern California posted $1.32 per cwt. net income, while Kern County earned $4.60 per cwt., with the San Joaquin Valley coming in with $2.38. The data reported represents the first six months of 2011.

Arizona led the other Western states at $3.10 per cwt., while the Texas Panhandle netted $2.99. Both New Mexico and the Pacific Northwest states of Oregon and Washington had profits of $2.97. Idaho came in at $2.44.

Feed costs ranged from a low of $8.41 in Kern County to $10.43 in Southern California. Feed was the main reason for the wide range of farm profits. Labor ranged from $1.26 to $1.81 per cwt., while herd replacement expenses ranged from 98 cents to $1.51. Others costs ranged from $3.59 to $4.79.

As expected, net income per cow was highest in Kern County at $490 and smallest in Southern California at $134.

To read the entire financial summary for the 283,000 cows in the Frazer, LLP report, please click here.